Secretary Bird

Gallery: AvianPosted January 2, 2011349 views10 comments

Another of South Africa's magnificent birds and one of my favorites. The Secretary Bird looks so much like a small, modern day dinosaur it's uncanny. I'd bet that to the small rodents and lizards it preys upon it might as well be a full sized Velociraptor! Comments and critiques are always greatly appreciated.....thanks for looking.

Canon EOS 7D
Canon 100-400L IS @ 160mm
ISO 640, F7.1, 1/1,250 sec
Cropped at about 80% of original

Comments

10 comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on January 2, 2011 at 8:08 PM

Excellent. Nice light; natural colors.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on January 2, 2011 at 8:12 PM

Very coo bird and the positioning of it in comparison to the vegetation behind it makes it look even larger than it is. Well done

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on January 2, 2011 at 8:25 PM

I agree, this is a magnificent bird I've only seen at the zoo before.
Great image of it in the wild, love the red & yellow at its head..
Also like the pose as it leans forward mid-stride.
Well done & thanx for posting this very unusual bird

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by richard remington on January 2, 2011 at 8:45 PM

Joe,

Magnificent shot! I love the contrast of orange against the gray and black feathers. It does look prehistoric.

Registered on March 12, 2010, 105 Posts, 368 Comments

Comment posted by Angela McCain on January 2, 2011 at 8:58 PM

Cool image of an unusual bird. He appears to be walking down a slope-but even so I think this may need some CW rotation.

Registered on April 19, 2009, 367 Posts, 3589 Comments

Comment posted by Catherine Reilly on January 2, 2011 at 10:28 PM

Oh, how wonderful for you to see this magnificent bird in the wild! Just a wonderful shot, I feel lucky to get to see. Well, w-e-l-l done!

Registered on August 16, 2006, 603 Posts, 9192 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Willison on January 3, 2011 at 7:54 AM

Looks like a tough adversary. Good capture, Joe.

Registered on April 10, 2009, 292 Posts, 3967 Comments

Comment posted by Joe James on January 3, 2011 at 3:43 PM

Thanks folks! Glad you all enjoyed this one.....and yes, it was walking downhill. Cheers.

Registered on November 20, 2009, 89 Posts, 808 Comments

Comment posted by Andy Shepherd on January 3, 2011 at 4:05 PM

Thats one impressive looking bird, and one I would love to see in the flesh, nice work, Joe.

Andy...

Registered on September 24, 2006, 123 Posts, 1254 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on January 5, 2011 at 4:02 PM

What a interesting large looking bird, never heard of this one before. Looks like a very difficult range of contrasting colors to deal with but handled well, way to go.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments